Diamonds in the Dark
by Mimi1239
Summary: Independence Day always seems to make Maya Hart feel a pit of sadness inside. She does not know why but it has always been this way since she could remember. What if someone knows what's going on with Maya? How will Maya react when she finds out the source of her sadness? Find out! (For the GMW Wiki 4th of July Contest) Vote for me on the wiki's main page! Entirely in Maya's POV.
1. Recalling to the Sky

Diamonds in the Dark

 **Hey guys! :) I know that I have not updated my other stories in a long while, but since I am hosting the Girl Meets World Wiki Fourth of July Fanfiction Contest I have decided to publish this story on Fanfiction as I did for _Home is the Hart of the Holidays_ when it was the Christmas Fanfiction Contest. :) This will only be in Maya's POV which is something completely different, but I hope you enjoy it regardless. This will also be 4 chapters long like _Home is the Hart of the Holidays._ I will complete this story even if I don't win. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Boy Meets World's spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

* * *

Summary: Independence Day always seems to make Maya Hart feel a pit of sadness inside. She does not know why but it has always been this way since she could remember. What if someone knows what's going on with Maya? How will Maya react when she finds out the source of her sadness? Find out here! (This is for the Girl Meets World Wiki 4th of July Contest) Vote for me on the wiki's main page! Entirely in Maya's POV.

Maya's Point of View

 _ **Friday, July 3rd, 2015, New York City**_

 _ **6:49 A.M**_

Tomorrow was supposed to be one of the best of days for our nation. It was the celebration of our independence. The 4th of July. But for some unfathomable reason that I could never find myself caring for, Independence Day always happened to be one of my worst days. You know when you have those days when you don't why you're feeling down, but you just are? I knew I was going to have that feeling tomorrow, and I had no idea why.

I went over to Riley's apartment like I did everyday. I never needed an invitation. I could just barge in at any time of the day and the Matthews would treat me like I was part of their family. Today we were all supposed to go downstairs to _Topanga's_ and help decorate the coffee house with banners and small little American flags. Basically anything that had to do with showcasing our patriotism to our country we just _had_ to let the whole world see.

Before entering Riley's room through her bay window like I routinely did every morning, I stopped myself right at the top of the flight of stairs of the fire escape to look up at the sunrise, something I never really did before. I could spot the blazing thin line of the horizon, a mixture of gold-ish orange and baby blue, that divided the sky from night and day.

In less than 48 hours the sky would be filled with lights and colorful sparks that always managed to make families sit outside their front lawns to watch together. I then guided my eyes up a bit further into the baby blue sky to see a thick layer of puffy white clouds spread across the city. It was definitely something to stand in awe about.

I tugged a strand of my ash blonde hair behind my ear before crouching down to enter through Riley's window.

"Sup Riles," I greeted in my usual causal cool tone. I found Riley already dressed in a blue sweater that had the American flag plastered on the front _and_ the back as she sat crossed-legged on her bed while engagingly reading our 8th grade history textbook that Mr. Matthews most likely gave her to read for 'fun.' _Geez could the Matthews get any more cheesy?_ "Uh, Riley? It's summer honey, it's time to let go of school," I said, walking over to Riley's bed and sat next to her. After a few seconds of silence passed, I decided to break the silence by asking, "So whatcha readin'?"

"Shh," Riley responded, not even taking her eyes off the textbook for one second to look at me while she shh-ed me.

"What could possibly be so interesting about some history textbook your dad gave you?" I asked.

Riley sat the opened textbook on my lap and pointed to the page she was reading. "Look at this, isn't this fascinating?"

All I could see was that Riley was pointing to a picture of a serious-looking man who looked like a lawn mower had run through the middle section of his head. I shrugged my shoulders in boredom. "I give up, who's that?"

Riley gasped in shock like I had just insulted her. "I can't believe you don't know who that is! That's John Adams, the father of John Quincy Adams. You know, the man that our school was named after."

I nodded my head, finally understanding what she meant. "What about him?"

Riley stood up and took the textbook from my lap and recited, "American Founding Father, John Adams once said about Independence Day, 'I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other...' Isn't that amazing? We're supposed to be the succeeding generation of our country. Doesn't that make you happy?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess so," I replied, apparently not putting as much enthusiasm as I thought I did because of Riley's follow up question.

"Is something bothering you Maya?" my concerned best friend asked me.

I never told anybody about my inexpiable sadness during Independence Day because not even I knew what was always bothering me. I've had it ever since I could remember, so it only seemed natural to me. I once read in some book that specific dates could sometimes trigger back past thoughts and memories. Whether they were good or bad memories, they always seemed to find their way back into your brain.

I nodded my head and put on one of my famous smirks. "I'm okay Riley. Let's go see what your mom made for breakfast," I encouraged, patting my best friend on the back and playfully pushed her out of her room. Before following behind her, I walked over to peek outside the bay window to see the bright blue sky that signified that it was day.

I softly bit my lip, shutting my eyes tightly as I tried very hard to remember anything that would help me forget the sadness I was feeling inside. But with disappointing results, I closed Riley's window and followed Riley to the breakfast table.

But little did I realize that whatever was bothering me, I was going to find out when I least expected it...

* * *

 **Author's Note: Next chapter you'll find out a little bit about what's bothering Maya and you will find out that somebody close to Maya actually knows what's going on. ;)**

 **I know how extremely late I am on Seven Years in the Nineties, but I will be updating tomorrow so watch out for that! :) And I hope by then you'll understand why I haven't updated in a while. Thanks guys! :) You can vote for me on the Girl Meets World Wiki main page from July 5 - July 10. Happy 4th of July to you all! Till next time! :D**

 **-Mimi1239**


	2. The Blue Stained Letter

**Hey guys again! So this contest thing is really going well so I want to post the second chapter for your enjoyment. If you have any questions on where to vote, just hit me up on PM or just simply go on the GMW wiki main page and you'll _see_ the poll there. Thanks guys! :) Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Boy Meets World spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

* * *

Maya's Point of View

 ** _Friday, July 3rd, 2015, New York City_**

 ** _11:04 A.M_**

The Matthews and I had just finished decorating the interior part of the coffee house with little tiny American flags and banners and as we were just about ready to sit down and have lunch, Shawn and my mother walked into the place, my mother laughing and giggling at Shawn's jokes. I'd never seen her this happy before. As they entered into _Topanga's,_ I noticed that in a very discreet manner they had their hands intertwined. I smiled to myself at this sign of affection. It had seemed like after Angela visited Shawn a couple of weeks ago to tell him that she was married, things have been going very well with Shawn and my mother. I was very happy for them. I guess there was hope for them after all.

"Hi mom," I smiled at my mother as she untangled her fingers from Shawn hastily, clearing her throat. A shade of crimson slowly started to appear on her face as she was seemingly embarrassed that she hadn't realized that her daughter had caught her holding hands with someone she thought she would never go for.

"Hi honey," she responded, quickly parting from Shawn and went behind her counter where she usually stood. Shawn watched my mother as she did so and smiled at her. She smiled back shyly and looked down at her hands. Shawn then turned his gaze over to look at me as he realized that I had caught on to their 'secret looks'.

I smirked. "How are things goin' Shawn?"

Shawn took a seat next to me by the booth as the Matthews family ate lunch. "Things are going well," he responded as he was about to take a sip of water from a glass that sat on the table.

I decided that I couldn't hide under the bushes anymore. "How are things going between you and my mom?" I blurted out, making Shawn almost choke on his water.

Shawn tried to hold in his coughs. "W-Why do you wanna know that?" he asked, starting to turn red. I wasn't sure if he was turning red from embarrassment or because of his effort of trying to hold in his breath to keep himself from continuously coughing.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It looks like you guys are getting along really well. Anything I should know about before I ask my mom?" I teased.

Shawn turned to Mr. Matthews in order to avoid talking to me about this. "So Cor, I got the paint you asked for. Katy had a bucket of blue paint in her apartment," Shawn said, holding up the bucket of blue paint very proudly that he had settled on the floor when he arrived.

Mrs. Matthews raised an eyebrow at her husband. "Why would you ask Shawn for blue paint?"

As if he had just been caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar from his mommy, Mr. Matthews shifted in his seat nervously before responding, "Honey I just thought it would be a great opportunity to add some color to spice up the place before tomorrow. You know this place is gonna be packed!"

Mrs. Matthews sneered at Mr. Matthews. "You don't like the color I picked out for the coffee house?"

"Alright, Shawn take it back," Mr. Matthews said giving in, clearly not wanting to get into an argument with his wife at the moment. Most likely because he was afraid of her.

Before Shawn got up to return the paint, I voluntarily got up and took the bucket of paint off the floor. "I can do it. Riles, wanna come?"

'Volunteering' to do stuff for others was something I rarely did unless there was always something in it for me. But under the circumstances that Shawn and my mother were getting along, and the fact that they could have more time to talk if they didn't have to go back and return the paint was why I decided to be generous today.

Riley hopped off her seat enthusiastically and smiled. "Sure!"

* * *

Riley had grown accustomed to the rough side of my neighborhood after staying over a whole night on Halloween. She liked coming over more often because she said she liked to look at the lights that shone into my bedroom window, especially during the night. I didn't really understand what she was talking about until I started doing it, and then I realized the work of art the city lights that shone into my bedroom window was.

"Where do you want me to put this Maya?" Riley breathed, carrying the heavy bucket of paint into my tiny apartment.

I pointed to my mother's bedroom. "Why don't you put it down somewhere in there?" _Why was I trusting clumsy Riley to carry a bucket of blue paint into my mom's room? Lately she hasn't been so clumsy and I was just too lazy to do it myself._

Riley nodded, disappearing into my mom's bedroom. "How are things going with your mom and Uncle Shawn?" she called from the bedroom.

I shrugged. "I dunno, Shawn doesn't wanna talk about it. Isn't that great?" I said the last part excitedly. "What if Shawn really does marry my mom and becomes my father?"

"That would be amazing, right?"

I smiled to myself. "Yeah, it really would be."

Suddenly, I heard a crash sound come from my mom's room and a gasp from Riley. _No surprise there._

"Maya!" Riley yelled in panic. I raced into the room to find Riley scrambled on the floor in a puddle of blue paint. I couldn't help but muffle a laugh despite the fact that now there was blue paint all over my mom's floor.

"What happened to you smurf?" I joked, earning a glare from Riley. I pulled my best friend off the floor and just as we were about ready to clean up the mess, I spotted an opened letter on top of my mom's dresser. Curiously I picked it up. My blue covered hands stained the edges of the letter. Seconds after reading the opening line did I realize it was a letter to my dad.

"What are you looking at Maya?" Riley said, peeking over my shoulder to read as much as she could from the letter. She froze in her place. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Oh yes it is," I responded, starting to get irritated. "A letter from Miss Katy Hart to Mister Kermit Clutterbucket. I mean, why would my mother do this? He left us- abandoned us a long time ago."

Riley pointed to the top part of the letter. "Look at the date Maya. This letter was supposed to be sent 13 years ago. Why would your mom just leave this letter out in the open?"

I looked at Riley fearfully and sighed. I took a seat on the edge of my mom's bed before I started reading. I absorbed every word I read and tried to process it into my brain. _Dear Kermit, I'm sorry I never had the courage to tell you this in person, but Maya isn't..._ Overwhelmed with mixed emotions inside, my hands started to tremble. With tearful and wide eyes I looked up at my best friend.

"H-He's not my real father."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Cliffhanger! If you can imagine the way Shawn said that Virna was not his real mother, just think of it as Maya's situation and you'll have those last few seconds played out perfectly in your head. :) Well, there will be more surprises soon guys. :) This secret isn't the only one that Maya will discover. You'll just have to tune into next chapter to see what else she finds out about her real father! :) See you guys! Remember to vote for me on the main wiki page from July 15 - 19!**

 **-Mimi1239**


	3. Set Me Free

**Hey guys! I thought I'd update this story before I left. Hopefully I'll be able to update Seven Years in the Nineties once or twice before I leave. I made it to the third round of the contest. Thank you for voting for me! :)**

 **You'll be able to connect with Maya on a deeper level in this chapter. Lots more questions will be answered right here! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Boy Meets World spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

* * *

Maya's Point of View

 _ **Friday, July 3rd, 2015, New York City**_

 _ **12:23 P.M**_

"Maya, are you a hundred percent sure that's what it says in the letter?" Riley asked, her voice quivering slightly.

I nodded. "Yes Riles, I'm sure," I breathed. "Kermit is not my real father."

For some odd reason that only made sense to me, I felt more angry at myself than I did at my own mother for not telling me. _Why did you have to pick up that letter Maya? Why did you have to ruin what was finally a good and healthy relationship between you and your mom? Why does everything bad in the world have to be your fault? Why couldn't you let something good finally happen for you?_

Riley and I stood silent for a moment.

"What happens now?" my clumsy friend finally asked.

I looked at my blue painted hands which were still shaking a bit. I settled the blue-stained letter on top of my mom's dresser where I had originally found it. "We clean ourselves up and pretend like we never found anything."

"What?" Riley asked worriedly. "You're not going to talk to your mom about this?"

A lump got caught in my throat. "Riley, things were so good before I had to go and mess it up by finding this letter."

Riley shook her head, taking my hands into hers. She looked at me straight in the eyes. "This is not your fault, Maya. Don't you think you have a right to know who your real father is?"

I furrowed my eyebrows as my voice finally broke and tears began streaming down my face. "Riley, the person who I thought was my father didn't want me, what makes you think my real father ever did?" Riley wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace as I cried into her shoulder.

* * *

We entered _Topanga's_ after we finished scrubbing off the paint from my mom's floor as much as we could. We left a big round blue stain on the floor in plain sight. She would surely notice and question it, but since I was so used to messing up all the time, I shrugged the idea off.

All eyes were on us when we entered. Mr. Matthews and Auggie were sitting at a table. They most likely had already finished eating lunch. Shawn was nowhere to be seen.

"What took you girls so long?" Mrs. Matthews asked as she stood by my mom at the counter. "Did something happen?"

"Why are you covered in blue paint, baby girl?" my mom asked concernedly. I looked down at my clothes, and then I looked over to Riley to see that we both still had blue paint on our shirts. Especially Riley. I guess after the letter shock, we were too preoccupied with scrubbing the paint off the floor that we didn't realize _we_ were still covered in blue paint.

"Uh... uh," Riley stuttered nervously. "Maya?"

I gave Riley a glare. "Yeah, thanks for that," I answered sarcastically. "What's there to tell? Riley fell and dropped some paint on the floor. I got some paint on me when I was helping her clean it up."

"Where did you spill the paint, sweetie?" my mom asked worriedly.

"In your room."

My mom froze in her place. "You were in my room?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we were." _Drop it, Maya. Stop ruining things for your family._ "I've never realized how different a room could look when there's things lying around everywhere. Things that should be hidden. And kept that way."

 _Why are you so stupid? I... I hate you._

My mom looked behind me and signaled with her eyes for the Matthews to give us a moment. I took Riley's hand as she looked at me with comforting eyes.

 _You got this buddy._

I let go of her hand. The Matthews walked out the door. I turned to look at my mother. The woman who gave me life. The woman who in four seconds managed to turn into a complete stranger to me.

"You found the letter, didn't you, baby girl?" Tears whelmed up in my mom's eyes. I knew it was probably hard for her to do this. She probably thought I would never find out about this secret she had been keeping from me for thirteen years, but I knew how careless my mom could be.

I brushed my wet cheek with the back of my hand. "What's his name?"

"Maya, please-"

"I just want to know his name," I quietly pleaded.

My mom sighed. "Rick. He'd made some bad choices. He... he went to jail for armed robbery. I couldn't let you grow up with a father like that-"

"So you let me grow up without one instead?"

"Maya, please listen to me-"

"Where is he now?"

Before my mom could answer my urgent question, Shawn barged into the coffee house carrying a box of firecrackers, seemingly oblivious to the current situation at hand.

"Hey, where did everybody go?" Shawn stopped when he realized we were both in tears.

My mom looked away from Shawn. "They all left. Could you give us a minute Shawn? I need to talk to my daughter alone."

"Oh," Shawn responded, looking at my mom with knowing eyes. "Is this about Rick?"

"You know about my father, Shawn?" I asked. My eyes were getting redder.

It only seemed like now Shawn had realized what he had said. There was no way he could go back now. "I'm sorry, kiddo," Shawn sympathized. I couldn't believe this. The two people I thought would never keep something from me were the ones that did exactly that.

"Why did you do that?" my mom asked Shawn angrily. "I don't want Maya hating two people. You have nothing to do with this."

"Oh, now I don't have anything to do with this family, Katy?" Shawn asked, a look of hurt shown in his eyes. "Then why did you tell me about Maya's real father?"

All was silent until my mom responded back, "I think you should leave, Shawn."

Shawn was about to protest when he stopped himself. He put the firecrackers down on the counter top and walked out of the coffee house.

 _Why does everything bad in the world have to be your fault?_ The voice at the back of my mind was right. If only I had minded my own business, I wouldn't have found out about Rick, and just maybe everything would still be alright between my mom and Shawn. Why did things have to happen for a reason?

I stared at the box of firecrackers that Shawn left behind. I could barely vividly remember much, but just by staring at those firecrackers could I remember myself as a one year old being carried on top of someone's shoulders while looking up at the nightfall of diamonds in the dark. On July 4th. Remembering. Remembering that... that had been the last time I had seen my father.

I took one last look at my mom before I ran out of the coffee house and into the streets of New York City.

Fireworks were supposed to bring families together. I had no family. I never did.

"Maya!" my mom called out to me. I didn't look back. I just kept running for as long as I could, not knowing where I'd go.

I knew one thing for sure. Fireworks were not going to bring my dad back.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well that was sad. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it regardless. The last chapter will be out soon. Watch out for that. :) Thanks guys!**

 **-Mimi1239**


	4. The Last Hello

**Hello my dear friends! Did ya think I forgot about this story? Pfft! No... okay I did for like 4 months, but now I'm back! :) I've never been able to let go of my stories, but this is the first ending that I've created. I know, crazy right? And I've been writing fanfics for more than a year now? Yeah... as always, let me know what you think of this chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Boy Meets World spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

* * *

Maya's Point of View

 _ **Friday, July 3rd, 2015, New York City**_

 _ **8:03 P.M**_

I did not run to Riley's window, nor did I try to find where Shawn had stormed off to. Instead I stayed at central park for a few hours, watching the pigeons eat bread crumbs on the ground. I contemplated the thought of possibly running away for like a millisecond before the idea disappeared from my brain. _Two men abandoned my mother. Did it have to do with me? Would Shawn soon follow suit in the near future? Of course he would idiot._ But I needed to find that out for myself.

A few minutes before the sun started to set, I ended up at the doorstep of the person I least expected I would ever want to see again. I rung the door bell. Out came a tall beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and rosy red lips wearing a business suit attire. She reminded me a lot of Riley's mother and her choice of style when it came to dressing up to go to her lawyer office for work.

"Hello, and what can I do for you?" the woman asked me sweetly. By then my tears were dried and my eyes were no longer puffy red.

"C-Can I speak to Kermit Clutterbucket?" I asked, trying not to let my voice break. "My name is Maya Hart..."

The woman's eyes widened as she realized who I was. It would faze her to know that I already knew who she was the second she opened the door.

Mrs. Clutterbucket stepped back to look inside her house, hesitant about whether or not she should let me in.

"Kermit is not here right now-"

"Please, can I just talk to him for one second?" I pleaded, my voice starting to break. _You are so weak Maya._

Mrs. Clutterbucket was about to protest but then she reluctantly gave up. "Okay Maya, come in. I'll go get Kermit for you," she said, motioning me inside. The very first thing I noticed was a little blonde girl who was about five with another younger little mini-version of her who looked three playing Barbie on the floor of their living room.

Uncomfortably I made my way over to the loveseat sofa and sat down taking in my surroundings of the foreign house I was now in. But it had been my decision to come, and I was not backing down now.

Just from the sight of the living room, I realized this family was pretty wealthy. It was more than what my mom and I could ever imagine to afford, and I felt no envy because of that.

The older little girl was the first one to notice me sitting on their sofa. She smiled cheekily and me, holding up a Barbie doll to me and asked me in her Minnie Mouse voice, "Do you wanna play wuth us?" Her baby blue eyes stared up at me with adoration.

To be truthful, I was a little caught off guard when she asked me that question. I'd never been around kids a lot if you don't count Riley's brother Auggie and his 'girlfriend' Ava. The fact that they didn't mind offering a strange girl sitting in their house to play Barbie with them was what shocked me the most. But they were kids with two parents, what did they know about the dangers and heartaches that life brought at their age?

"I've never... played Barbie before," I answered honestly. And it was true, my mom couldn't afford to buy me the toys any normal kid would play with, and I learned to accept that a long time ago. I smiled, hoping the little girl wouldn't take it the wrong way. Instead, she handed me her doll and invited me to play with them.

It only took a minute later for Kermit to enter the living room with his wife standing beside him. I looked up from the dolls and the girls to see Kermit standing in front of me, a nervous look appeared on his face. The girls stopped their playing as well and looked up with curious faces, sensing something out of place. I slowly rose up from my spot and extended my hand.

"I know you don't really know me-" I started, before I was caught off by Kermit himself.

"Um, Maya can we talk outside?" he asked me, leading me out the front door. I stood next to the 'Welcome' mat with my arms over my chest as Kermit closed the door gently behind him. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here, Maya?"

I stared off into the daylight that was just about ready to convert into sunset. I breathed. "Did you know?" I decided to ask instead, knowing the truth, but needed to hear his side of the story.

I met Kermit's eyes, the man who I thought was my dad until a few hours ago. The man who I thought left us nine years ago, but it wasn't true. It hadn't been him.

I could just tell by the sad and remorseful look in his eyes that he knew exactly what I meant.

"Yes," he admitted after a while of ponder.

"Is that why you left?"

"Maya-"

"I just need to know, okay?!" my voice erupted with anger. It was not necessarily toward Kermit, but to my own father, who most likely had forgotten that I existed. Now he would never know that my best friend was Riley Matthews, or that I liked to draw, or that sunsets kept me calm, and that angered me more than my own mom keeping it hidden from me for all these years...

"I loved you like a daughter, Maya. Your mom wanted you to grow up with a father in your life, and I failed her. I'll never be able to redeem myself for leaving you both, and I've accepted that. We were very young and I wasn't ready for a big commitment. I'm sorry that I let you down, Maya."

I sighed, tears welled up in my eyes. "Y-You don't have to be sorry. I'm sorry for coming here and disrupting your home." That was all I had to say.

" _You_ don't have to be sorry. Would you like to stay for dinner?" Kermit offered, a smile slowly created on his face.

I refused the offer. "No, I should get home now. Mom is probably worried about me."

A slight and hesitant pause came from him before he asked, "is she with anybody right now?"

I smirked slightly, thinking of Shawn. "Not that it's any of your business, but yeah, she is. And he makes her very happy."

Kermit smiled. "You're just like your mom, and that's a good thing. I'm glad to hear that. You're always welcomed here, Maya. I know you don't have to do this now, but I hope one day you'll be able to open up to me. I'll always be here. And I know I'm probably not the best person to tell you this, but you've grown up to be such a kind and wonderful young lady. Thank you for playing with my kids, and I hope you find what you need."

"I already have what I need," I said, a small smile formulated on my lips. "And they're at home waiting for me."

* * *

I arrived at the Matthews' house right after twilight. I knew my mom would be there waiting for me. She knew better than to look for me after an argument. In some weird way she trusted that I would be able to keep myself safe, even if I wasn't in the best mindset when I had stormed out of Topanga's earlier today.

"I hope you know you're grounded right after you forgive me," my mom said with relief, running up directly to hug me once I entered the apartment. The Matthews were sitting around their dinner table as they watched the interaction between my mom and I.

Mom squeezed me as tight as she could and I hugged her back, suffocating a little. "M-Mom, I'm alright. I just needed to talk to, you know, the guy I thought was my dad."

Mom let go of her tight grip on me and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "What did that man have to say for himself?"

"He said a lot. He said he was sorry for leaving us and he understands why we can't forgive him... I needed to hear that from him. He said he wasn't ready to commit to us. Mom, him leaving didn't have anything to do with us. It was all his decision. I don't need to look for Rick to know that he feels the same way. It took me nine years for me to feel... light. For me to feel liberated and free. I don't have to carry this weight of anger and vengeance anymore, Mom."

For the first time in my life I actually believed myself. For the first time since I was five years old, the tiny voice in my head that would tell me that I was worthless and that everything that happened was all my fault finally shut up.

Mom looked at me with proud eyes. Then she embraced me once again and softly wept into my shoulder. I looked ahead of her shoulder to see the Matthews family smiling proudly at me as well. Riley gave me a thumbs up, and I smiled back at her through my tears.

The front door opened unexpectedly and in came Shawn. The smile on his face quickly faded when he saw my mom and I hugging each other.

"What happened?" he asked concernedly, forgetting about what had happened between the three of us earlier. "Is everybody alright?"

Mom let me go and wiped away her tears with her fingers. Seemingly embarrassed by the fact that Shawn had caught her like this. She cleared her throat. "Mr. Hunter-" she began.

"Mrs. _Hart_ ," Shawn slightly mocked.

A tiny smirk curved on Mom's face. "Alright then, _Shawn_. I think we need to discuss about what happened before."

"I do too. How about over dinner?"

Before my mom could refuse, I pushed both adults out the door. _Grown ups can be even more complicated than teens when it comes to love._

* * *

Riley sat beside me as we all watched the fireworks beauty before us on the Fourth of July. We laid on a blanket as we looked up at the night sky. I no longer needed someone to carry me on his shoulders. I looked to my right to see my mom and Shawn smiling at each other as Shawn had his arm around her. I smiled. _Hope isn't for suckers after all._

Riley's parents sat beside my mom and Shawn and they stared at each other so lovingly, it was just as beautiful as the fireworks before us. Lucas, Farkle, Auggie and Ava laid next to us on the blanket. Riley poked me on the shoulder.

"You're okay now?"

"I'll always be okay," I answered honestly. It was the truth. _No more pretending Maya Hart._

After all, once the diamonds in the dark seized to exist for another year, I knew I could always look forward to the bright new and pure day of tomorrow that had yet to come...

* * *

 **Author's Note: And that's a wrap! :) Thank you guys for keeping up with this story for this long. More things to come! I'll soon be publishing a new story called Flames of Hope and it's a LUCAYA fanfic! Something different for you all! More on this soon! I'll also be updating Seven Years in the Nineties this Sunday so look forward to that as well! :) **

**Love you all! Class dismissed! ;)**

 **-Mimi1239**


End file.
